Smiths Awarded $56 M DoD Order

Photonics.comFeb 2005
WATFORD, England, Feb. 24 --Smiths Detection, a provider of x-ray and trace detection equipment, has been awarded contract modifications worth more than $56 million by the US Department of Defense (DoD) for the supply of more than 5200 automatic chemical agent detector/alarm (ACADA) units and support equipment to provide continuous monitoring of chemical threats in battle zones or high-risk areas.

ACADA is based on the Smiths Detection GID-3 detection device, an advanced point-sampling chemical agent alarm system that is capable of detecting standard blister and nerve agents and simultaneously providing warnings.

Robert Judd, president of Smiths Detection-Military, said, "With the addition of the latest contract, the number of our ACADA units in service with US forces will approach 30,000. It provides a high level of detection sensitivity and has been proven in the most arduous conditions, including Iraq."

Under contracts starting in 1998, Smiths Detection supplied more than 22,000 ACADA (GID-3) units to the DoD for deployment with the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. A contract for more than 1600 units, principally for the National Guard, was awarded in 2004.